Death as spiritual development

Despite the negative connotations of death and its relation to dissolution and decay, it can be seen as the passing from the profane, ignorant, blind condition to the spiritual realm. This may refer to physical death and spiritual resurrection, as in St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, where death of the natural body is seen as a sowing of the seed for the birth of the spiritual body; or it may refer to the death of a phase in life, of a relationship, of a desire, of a habit, when clearing away the "dead wood" leaves space for growth of the new. Life may be seen as a progression of small deaths, through choice or circumstance, all giving opportunity for new life and new development.